VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT 17
breaking down the word into its prefix ( in- ) and word root ( ept ). That’s the subject
of Chapters 2 and 3. Meanwhile, however, here’s a sentence that does give you the
context you need to determine the meaning of the word:
➥ Despite years of lessons, Sabina remains an utterly inept dancer who sim-
ply stumbles across the dance floor.Now we can tell through context that inept means awkward or clumsy. Being able
to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context is an essential
vocabulary skill. Sometimes you will find unfamiliar words whose meanings are
indecipherable without a dictionary. More often than not, though, a careful look at
the context will give you enough clues to interpret the definition.
By looking for the way the words are used in the paragraph, you can figure out
what these words mean. Even if you have no idea what a word means, you can still
tell something about the word by how it is used—by examining the words and ideas
surrounding it. Like detectives looking for clues at a crime scene, you must look at
the passage for clues that will uncover the definition of the word.
SENTENCE DETECTIVE
Deciphering some sentences can seem like an impossible mission, but like every-
thing else worth doing, it’s hard at first and gets easier as you practice. There are
some basic skills you need to acquire, though. Think of yourself as a detective try-
ing to decode a secret message. Once you have the key to the code, it’s easy to deci-
pher the message. The following sections will give you the keys you need to unlock
the meanings of even the most complex sentences. The great thing is that these are
master keys that can unlock any and all sentences, including the many complex sen-
tences you will encounter in your college reading.
◗ Sentence Structure
The single most important key to the meaning of a sentence is its structure.
The best and easiest way to determine sentence structure is to look at its
punctuation.
Sentence completion questions always have one or more commas or semi-
colons. The basic strategy is to separate the sentence into units divided by punc-
tuation. Often, one of the units will express a complete thought, then at least one
unit will have one or two blanks. The unit that expresses a complete thought will